Juice Montana NEIIPA release this Sunday at Burgeon Beer Co

On Sunday December 3rd, 2017 at noon, Burgeon Beer Company will be tapping a brand new beer that I couldn’t be more excited about. What makes this beer so special? Not only is it named after one of my favorite pro athletes of all time, but I got to brew it!

A few weekends ago Burgeon Beer Company held junior assistant brewer training camp, and allowed a bunch of rookies from Three B Zine Podcast (me, Cody, Tom and Ryan) into their brewhouse to collaborate on a juicy new creation.

This beer could be more epic than “The Catch”, and we all invite you up to Burgeon this weekend to try and tackle this hazy monster!

* this beer is DRAFT ONLY, not canned

Juice Montana NEIIPA

The beer is called Juice Montana, a double Northeastern Style India Pale Ale that clocks in at an exact 8.0% ABV. It was named after a play on the legendary 49ers quarterback Joe Montana’s name, and the “juicy” traits of a hazy IPA.

4 hops for 4 Super Bowl rings

All credit for this glorious beer name goes to the podcast host, Cody Thompson who keeps a lengthy list of amazingly creative names for sports, music, movies, and pop culture inspired beers. It turns out Burgeon thought this moniker was worth using, and surprised us all with an invite to actually help brew the beer.

Each member of the podcast selected a hop, and the final play call ended up being Galaxy, Citra, Mosaic, and Nelson — as we like to say, “4 hops for 4 Super Bowl rings.” As you can see, these are all MVP-caliber hops just like NFL great Joe Montana.

Look for a soft, cushy mouthfeel from a variety of malts including pilsner, wheat and flaked oats. Galaxy and Citra went in the whirlpool, and Juice Montana was dry-hopped with Mosaic and Nelson last week.

We have been told the aroma to this NEIIPA is one for the record books, and everyone is expecting it to be a flavor bomb of Montana to Rice proportions!

Pictures from Brew Day

Juice Montana wasn’t a photo-op collaboration, and Burgeon Beer truly put us all to work. We milled at least 1500 pounds of grain, broke up the rice hulls, tossed them into the mash, and weighed hops. Kegs were washed during downtime, Ryan handled the dreaded “grain out”, and then the brew deck was cleaned along with the mash tun and kettle.

We all had a decent handle on the brewing process before we got started, but everyone walked out of the brewery that day with a deeper understanding of all brewing procedures. And more importantly, even more respect for the art form, and level of hard work it entails to create that tasty pint we all enjoy so much.

Thanks again to Burgeon Beer Company for this amazing opportunity, and we’d all love to do it again sometime!